导出博客文章HOOVER, Ala. -- People are talking about the Tennessee Volunteers as potential
Southeastern Conference contenders again.After making steady progress the past
three years under coach Butch Jones and bringing in three straight highly rated
recruiting classes, the Vols are again regarded as legitimate contenders in the
SEC Eastern Division.Many of the questions Jones and his players faced Tuesday
at the leagues media days concerned dealing with hype and divisional
front-runner status. Its a fairly dramatic change from a few years ago.I
remember standing up here at the podium three short years ago, and the room was
half filled and nobody was talking about Tennessee football, Jones said. Thats
why you coach. Thats why you play, is to be in a program like the University of
Tennessee where everybody is talking about you. Thats what you work for. Now its
what you do with that opportunity.Tennessee hasnt won an SEC title since the
1998 national championship team. The Vols last played in the SEC title game in
2007, largely falling behind Georgia, Florida and other programs at times during
that stretch.Jones has led the Vols on a climb from five wins to seven to nine
during his first three years. They finished second in the East last season after
blowing a fourth-quarter lead in a 28-27 loss to eventual division champion
Florida.Now, quarterback Joshua Dobbs is trying to help continue the rise. Dobbs
calls the hype outside noise but enjoys being part of Tennessees resurgence
under Jones.The biggest thing it shows is just how far weve come from when guys
like me, Cam (Sutton) and Jalen (Reeves-Maybin) were freshmen, Dobbs said. There
wasnt much talk about Tennessee. Thats the biggest thing. Its good to see that
Tennessee has definitely risen and Tennessee is back to where traditional
Tennessee has been.Having an experienced quarterback in a league filled with
unproven starters helps raise the expectations for Tennessee. The Vols have also
got a 1,200-yard rusher in Jalen Hurd and defensive standouts like defensive end
Derek Barnett and cornerback Cameron Sutton.Now, the challenge for the players
is living up to the hype. So far, so good, according to Jones.They have not
looked up, he said. They have not blinked, and theyve just been focused on their
own self-determination, becoming a better football player and becoming a better
football team. Thats really what you can do.
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Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance
propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the
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District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and
his own union, the MLBPA.TORONTO -- Early leads have been the norm, the pitching
staff is rounding into form and confidence is growing by the day. The Toronto
Blue Jays are doing everything right these days and its paying off with
victories. Adam Lind hit a three-run homer and Mark Buehrle (4-4) worked five
effective innings as the Blue Jays defeated the Colorado Rockies 5-2 on
Wednesday to extend their season-high winning streak to eight games. Torontos
bullpen allowed just one hit over four innings of scoreless relief and Casey
Janssen earned his 16th save. "Everything is clicking right now for us," Buehrle
said. "I cant pinpoint why everything is clicking but were getting a big hit,
getting a big pitch when we need to, guys are playing great defence behind us. I
dont know whats happening but hopefully (we can) continue it as long as we can."
Toronto (35-36) completed a three-game sweep of the Rockies with the victory and
moved just a game away from the .500 mark. The winning streak is the teams
longest since a 10-gamer in 2008. Neil Wagner, Brett Cecil, Steve Delabar and
Janssen all worked an inning apiece. "What can you say -- weve been saying it
over and over every day," manager John Gibbons said of his bullpen. "Theres
going to be times when theyre going to give up some runs but right now theyre on
some kind of roll." Jose Bautista got things started in the opening frame when
he reached on a throwing error by third baseman Nolan Arenado. The Toronto
slugger moved to second on a single by Edwin Encarnacion and Lind followed by
launching a 2-1 pitch over the right-field wall for his ninth homer of the year.
The Toronto first baseman has had at least one hit in 19 of his last 22 starts
and is batting a stellar .340 on the season. Its quite a difference from a year
ago, when he spent part of the season in the minors. "Its surreal," Lind said.
"Couldnt have written that script." Colorado (37-36) got on the board in the
second inning when Jordan Pacheco led off with a double and scored on a single
by Yorvit Torrealba. Toronto restored its three-run lead in the fourth inning.
Colby Rasmus walked and moved to third when second baseman D.J. LeMahieu booted
a Maicer Izturis grounder. Emilio Bonifacio hit a tailor-made double-play ball
but used his speed to beat the throw to first, allowing Rasmus to score.
Bonifacio promptly stole second but was stranded when CColorado starter Juan
Nicasio (4-3) struck out Munenori Kawasaki.dddddddddddd Carlos Gonzalez hit a
frozen rope inside the right-field pole for his 21st homer of the season to open
the fifth inning, making it a 4-2 game. The Rockies would not get any closer as
they fell to 0-9 all-time at Rogers Centre. "This series we didnt play good
baseball at all," Gonzalez said. "They pitched well, they scored a lot of runs."
Buehrle didnt have his best stuff but still managed to prevent a big inning. The
veteran left-hander gave up eight hits, a walk and two earned runs over five
innings while striking out four. "There were just a lot of pitches I got away
with today," he said. "Like I said, earlier in the season that wasnt happening.
Those pitches were getting hit for home runs and getting us down in a hole
early." Wagner struck out the first two batters he faced. LeMahieu then worked a
14-pitch at-bat before popping up to short. Cecil came on for the seventh and
was dominant once again, striking out a pair and getting a ground-ball out. The
left-hander has not allowed a hit since May 28, a club-record span of 38
batters. Cecil broke David Cones record of 36 set back in June 1995. "Its still
sinking in," Cecil said of the accomplishment. "I didnt change anything, it is
what it is. Im not here to break records, Im here to win a World Series." The
Blue Jays added an insurance run in the seventh inning when Kawasaki tripled and
scored on Melky Cabreras single. Toronto put runners on the corners but Lind
flew out to deep right-centre field with two outs. Nicasio allowed four hits and
four runs -- two of them earned -- over five innings. He had three strikeouts
and walked a batter. Notes: Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes is set to play a
series for triple-A Buffalo this weekend. The four-time all-star has been on the
disabled list since April 13 after suffering a severe left ankle sprain. ... The
Blue Jays have a day off Thursday before continuing the six-game homestand with
a weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles. R.A. Dickey (6-8) is scheduled
to start Friday nights opener against Baltimores Jason Hammel (7-4). ... The
Rockies will continue their nine-game road swing with stops in Washington and
Boston. ... Toronto has an all-time record of 9-6 against Colorado. The home
team has swept every series. ... Attendance was 27,235. ' ' '
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